Arthropods

The group “arthropod” consists of animals that are invertebrates. They have exoskeletons (external skeletons), segmented bodies, and jointed appendages. They have cuticle “shells”. In other words, the outside of their bodies is hard, take for example the crab. Arthropods make up 80% of the living creatures on this planet. They include insects (i.e. beetles), arachnids (i.e. spiders), myriapods (i.e. worms), and crustaceans (i.e. crabs).

Unbelievably, some arthropods’ venom, such as a scorpion’s, can be useful to humans. Many times, the venom of these creatures only is fatal to an already unhealthy person. A scorpion’s venom is a mixture of neurotoxins and enzyme inhibitors, so that depending on its victim, the scorpion is ensured a meal. One type of scorpion, the Death Stalker, has certain toxins which bind extremely well with tumors. It is thought that this could perhaps aid us in killing cancer tumors because the toxins would kill the tumor but the enzyme inhibitors (that come along with the toxins) won’t harm us because we don’t have the certain enzyme that they’re designed to harm. Therefore, this venom might make an effective cancer treatment.

The point is that although most arthropods are not liked by the majority of people, myself included, they are somewhat useful and interesting.